According to the records, the court below found the defendant guilty on December 11, 2019 of the facts charged, including fraud, and sentenced the defendant to imprisonment with prison labor for three years and six months on December 11, 2019, and suspended the execution of the above punishment for five years, and the prosecutor and the defendant did not appeal against the above judgment, which became final and conclusive.

However, the main text of Article 62(1) of the Criminal Act provides, “In cases where a sentence of imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than three years or a fine not exceeding five million won is to be imposed, and there are extenuating circumstances in light of the matters prescribed in Article 51, the execution of a sentence may be suspended for a period of not less than one year but not more than five years.”

According to the above legal provisions, since the original judgment was sentenced to imprisonment with prison labor for three years and six months for the defendant, the execution of the above imprisonment with prison labor cannot be suspended.

Nevertheless, the court's decision to suspend the execution of the above punishment for five years when it sentenced the defendant to imprisonment with prison labor for a period of three years and six months constitutes a case where the judgment violated the law.

The ground of final appeal assigning this error is with merit.

Therefore, the part of the judgment of the court below which suspended the execution of imprisonment against the defendant among the original judgment under Article 446 subparagraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act is reversed. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices.